Someone stole your product photos? How to find the copies and get them taken down

You spent a day shooting your products. Now the same photos are on a marketplace listing, or on a shop you've never heard of, selling something cheaper. Sometimes they've copied your product descriptions too.

It's maddening, but you have more power than it feels like. This guide covers how to find copies for free, how to report them on each platform, and what to include so the report isn't bounced back.

This is general information, not legal advice. If a lot of money is at stake, talk to an IP solicitor.

First: you already own the copyright

In the UK you get copyright automatically. You don't apply or pay. GOV.UK lists photography and "web content" among the things protected the moment you create them. So your product photos and the descriptions you wrote are yours, whether or not you put a © on them.

Two things to check before you report:

Did you take the photos, or did someone else? If a photographer shot them, check your agreement. The copyright may be theirs, licensed to you.
Is it a copy of your photo, or a copy of your product? Copyright covers your photos and your words. A copy of the product itself, your brand name or your logo is a different kind of claim (design right or trade mark), often on a different form.

Step 1: Find the copies (free)

Search with your photo. On a computer, go to google.com, click Search by image and upload a photo. Or, in Chrome, right-click any image and choose Search with Google Lens. The results can include "websites with the image or a similar image".

Tips that save time:

Use your lifestyle photos first. Plain white-background shots match too many shops.
Try your best 5 to 10 products, not the whole catalogue.
Copycats sometimes flip or crop a photo. Try a cropped version too.

Search for your words. Copy a distinctive sentence from a product description and search for it inside quotation marks. Copied text often turns up the same shops.

Search the marketplaces directly. Search Amazon, eBay, Etsy and Temu for your product's name plus one key feature. Some sellers make their own photos of a copy of your product, so an image search won't find them.

Keep a log. A simple spreadsheet: the copy's link, where it was, the date you found it, the date you reported it, and what happened. The same sellers often come back.

Step 2: Gather your evidence

Every platform asks for much the same:

Your legal name and contact details.
A link to your original: your own product page, or the image file.
Direct links to each copy. Not the shop's home page. Shopify says plainly that "a general shop link will not be accepted".
What exactly was copied, and where on the page (which image, which paragraph).
A good-faith statement that you own the work and the use isn't authorised. The forms include this.

Only report what's really yours. All the platforms warn that false or bad-faith reports can have legal consequences.

Step 3: Report it on the right platform

A copycat Shopify store

Shopify follows the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) process. Use Shopify's online copyright form, which you can reach from its "Reporting copyright infringement" help page. If Shopify accepts the notice, it generally removes the content and tells the merchant. The merchant can send a counter notice. If it's valid, they may be allowed to repost in 10 to 14 business days. Shopify has a separate form for trade mark complaints.

Etsy

Etsy wants listing reports through the Etsy Reporting Portal (etsy.com/ipreporting). You register, add your intellectual property, then create a report and add listings by link or listing ID. It's in US English but works from anywhere. If the report meets Etsy's policy, Etsy removes the listing and contacts the seller. The seller can file a counter notice. Etsy says it can't take sides at that point.

Amazon

Use Amazon's Report Infringement form (sign in first). It's for rights owners and their agents. Amazon says: "If your copyrighted image has been added to our catalog without your consent, please start a report." Brand Registry gives you extra tools, but it needs a pending or registered trade mark. You don't need it to report a copied photo.

eBay

eBay's Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme is for rights owners reporting listings. eBay's policy lists "using third-party photos, images, or videos without permission" and copied "creative text" as examples of infringement.

Temu

Temu's policy says rights owners report through its online IP Portal, and you must be logged in. The report asks for the right you're relying on (for copyright, a description of your work and a link to it), where the copying is (product, packaging, detail-page images or text), and the links to each listing. Anyone can also use Report This Item on a product page, but the IP Portal is the route for owners.

The copy shows up in Google

Google can remove search results for legal reasons, including copyright. Use the Report content for legal reasons page in Google's Legal Help Center, choose the Google product (for example, Search), and give the exact URLs. Google notes this only removes it from Google. The page itself still exists, so report it to the host too.

Step 4: If it doesn't work

Write to the seller. The UK Intellectual Property Office suggests contacting the person first and asking them to stop. Some copycats are just careless.
Mediation. The IPO runs a mediation service for IP disputes, including copyright.
A solicitor. For repeat or large-scale copying, an IP solicitor can send a formal letter and tell you whether going to court is worth it.
Expect relisting. Copies often come back under a new listing or a new shop. Each one needs a fresh report. Your log makes that quicker.

Other options

Do it yourself every month. Free, and the steps above work. The cost is your time, and you'll miss copies between checks.
Watermarks and right-click blockers. These apps make copying a little harder. They don't find copies, and a determined copier can crop or re-shoot.
Brand protection services and agencies. They monitor and file takedowns for you. Prices vary widely. Some charge per takedown.
Other Shopify monitoring apps. There are several in the Shopify App Store under brand protection and anti-theft. Compare what they check, how often, and how they price (per image, per marketplace or flat).

CopySpotter (we made this one)

We built CopySpotter to do the searching part for small brands. We're not neutral, so here's what it does.

Every week it searches the web for copies of your product photos, including flipped, resized or re-framed copies.
It shows your photo next to each copy, with the page address.
It drafts the takedown request for Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Temu, TikTok Shop or a Shopify shop, with a dated screenshot and the link to the platform's report page.
You check it and send it yourself, using the steps above. It never sends anything for you.

Price: we'll publish it once Shopify has reviewed the app. It will be billed through Shopify.

Status: CopySpotter is waiting for Shopify App Store approval. You can't install it yet. See the CopySpotter page for when it's live.

Which should you choose?

One copy found, once: report it yourself today. It's free.
Copies keep appearing: a monthly check and a log, or a tool that checks weekly.
Copies of your product, not just your photos, or a big seller: speak to an IP solicitor.

FAQ

Do I need to register my photos to report them? No. In the UK, copyright is automatic. There's no register.

Do I need Amazon Brand Registry to report a stolen photo? No. Anyone who owns the copyright can use Amazon's Report Infringement form. Brand Registry needs a trade mark.

Can I report a whole copycat shop at once? Shopify asks for a link to each page with your content. A link to the shop's home page won't be accepted.

Sources

Checked 9 November 2026.